Machine for making pile fabric formed by tufts of yarn on a web of backing material



March 1, 1966 Filed Dec. 5, 1961 W. DIETZ LE FABRIC F R ED TUFTS 0F YARN MACHINE FOR MAKING PI ON A WEB OF BACKING TER 5 sheets-Sheet 1 4 "P" I 5 l \1\mw\\\\\\\\ March 1, 1966 w. DlETZ 3,237,578

MACHINE FOR MAKING FILE FABRIC FORMED BY TUFTS OF YARN ON A WEB OF BACKING MATERIAL Filed Dec. 5, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet z INVENTOR.

w. DIETZ 3,237,578 MACHINE FOR MAKING FILE FABRIC FORMED BY TUFTS OF YARN March 1, 1966 ON A WEB OF BACKING MATERIAL 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 5, 1961 37 ijgu 4.2 $$$$$$$$$$$QQQQ$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$6$$6$ INVENTOR. Wfid? 2/42/2- BY March 1, 1966 w. DIETZ 3,237,578

MACHINE FOR MAKING PILE FABRIC FORMED BY TUFTS OF YARN ON A WEB OF BACKING MATERIAL Filed Dec. 5, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

March 1, 1966 w. DIETZ 3,237,578

MACHINE FOR MAKING FILE FABRIC FORMED BY TUFTS OF YARN I ON A WEB OF BACKING MATERIAL Filed Dec. 5, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. Way 517 2/6 Y United States Patent M Delmenhorst, Germany Filed Dec. 5, 1961, Ser. No. 157,231 Claims priority, application Germany, Dec. 6, 1960,

11 Claims. 531. 112-79 The invention relates to a method and apparatus for applying rows of tufts to a backing material by means of cut pile and loop pile tufting machines.

Such tufting machines and needle pile machines have been used very widely recently for making needle pile blankets, upholstery materials, carpets, etc. The needles of the machine, fastened to a needle carriage, shoot the tufts into a backing material, foil or the like passing below the needle carriage perpendicularly to the row of needles. This leads to higher productivity than with the conventional process, but entails the disadvantage of restricting the number of tufts that can be accommodated on a given area. One of the reasons for this is that the yarns have to pass through the eyes of the tufting needles, the size of which again depends on the spacing of the needles. The other reason is that the spacing and strength of the needles in turn depends on the loop holders and knives respectively to be accommodated and on the backing material.

The strength and usefulness of carpets depends to a great extent on the number of tufts per unit of area. Cut pile machines were accordingly constructed with increasingly fine spacing and correspondingly thin loop holders, knives, etc. But closer stitching meant that finer yarns had to be used because the eyes of the needles were smaller. These yarns are more expensive and yet hardly result in a heavier pile or a larger fibre section per unit area.

Blended hair yarns, which result in a particularly strong product, are hard to use with fine needles. Patches of latex and the like in the yarn are left in the eyes of the needles and lower productivity. Stoppages cause variations in the buckling of the thread, which often prejudices the appearance of the goods and lowers their value. The finer needles, loop holders, knives, etc. are also particularly sensitive, especially in carpet cut pile tufting machines, and their constant servicing is responsible for frequent stoppages and hard wear on materials.

With a cut pile the tufts are juxtaposed parallel in both the longitudinal and the transverse direction, the perforations showing rectangular meshes. Thus the tufts support each other only laterally, so that interstices are formed in the space between four tufts, such as are found in all conventional carpets.

Since loop pile can be produced without leaving room for the knives required for cut pile, attempts have :been made to close up the rows of tufts while still using the old needle strength. Two consecutive rows of needles have therefore "been mounted in the needle carriage and two consecutive rows of loop holders on the loop holder shaft. Each row of needles has wider spacing and is longitudinally offset from the other in such a way that the tufts of the rear row of needles are located in the cloth between the tufts of the first row of needles.

However, this arrangement prejudices exact spacing of the rows of tufts since when the rows of needles are lined up one behind the other and the usual jute cloths are used the needles are more likely to deviate than when they pass adjacently into the cloth, which is relatively firm at the high stitching speed, and thereby bring the warp threads together evenly.

3,237,578 Patented Mar. 1, 1966 Both with cut and loop pile even the economical jute cloths generally used for carpets impose limits on any closing up of the stitches. In order to separate the warp and weft threads better when the needles stitch them, cloths with a twill weave have been used instead of cloths with a linen weave. But the needles stitching parallel to the weft threads in question nevertheless act so strongly on one single weft thread at the same time that with the large number of stitches often desirable in the longitudinal direction of the cloth frequent Weft breakages are inevitable. As a result tufts fall out, thus entailing ex penditure on repairs and a lowering of quality.

The present method eliminates the described disadvantages and achieves the desired purpose of thickening the pile and fibre section in conventional and knotted carpets.

According to the method of the invention the backing material passing under the needle carriage is fed obliquely to the direction of the row of needles.

If needle and yarn are equally strong the rows of tufts can be brought over 30% closer together. In the longitudinal direction the stitches can be brought 10 to 15% closer together, since each single weft thread in the cloth is acted on only by one needle at a time, and the improved expansion and separation mean that less Weft breakages occur.

In this way over 50% more fibres are accommodated in the pile, which considerably strengthens the product.

Even with cut pile, which is sensitive to treading, advancing the cloth in an oblique direction makes it possible to insert the tufts of the individual needles in the spaces between the tufts placed in the backing material by the needles of the adjacent rows of tufts. This results in a marked increase in strength, as the tufts are now supported against each other without interstices and permit the total fibre density in the pile to be further increased.

For the production of cheap and particularly durable and strong textile floor coverings the thickness of pile and fibre section enables the depth of the pile to be considerably decreased so as to save or restrict oneself to a specific weight of yarn. At the same time it is possible to include an increased amount of cheap chemical fibres, which have a high resistance to abrasion but only slight static elasticity.

With cut pile, where patterned yarns are used the closely-arranged, offset tufts have a sharper or more pearly appearance, which is less sensitive even when trodden down. With loop pile patterns formed by deep and shallow loops become more clearly defined and can take more versatile patterns.

The effect of closing up the rows of tufts becomes very prominent at an angle of slope of about 20. But the cloth can be preserved at the descent of the needles even at smaller angles.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6 are a side elevation and plan view respectively of different embodiments of apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a horizontal section through needles and obliquely held loop-formers for out pile;

FIGS. 8 and 8a illustrate the horizontally operating loop former carriage;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a knife carrier shaft with knife holder carrier;

FIGS. 10, 11, 12 are front, side and plan views respectively of the course of a cut pile tuft row Where the backing is drawn obliquely and drops down after stitching;

FIG. 13 shows cut pile made in known manner; FIG. 14 shows cut pile made according to the invention;

FIG. 15 shows loop pile made in known manner;

FIG. 16 shows loop pile made according to the invention;

FIGS. 17, 18 and 19 are front, side and plan views respectively of the course of a cut pile tuft row between obliquely-placed guide rods;

FIGS. 20, 21 and 22 are views from below, from the side and from behind respectively of the course of a loop pile tuft row between obliquely placed guide rods.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the guiding of a backing material 1 which is brought through under the diagrammatically shown needles 2 of the needle carriage 3 of a tufting machine 4 (partially shown in section in FIG. 1), the direction of its passage (seen in plan form in FIG. 2) being diagonal and oblique respectively to the direction in which the row (or rows) of needles of the needle carriage extend.

The unwinding roll 5 and the take-up roll 6 are arranged obliquely to the direction of the needle carriage and, together with the feed needle roller 7 and the delivery needle roller 8, lead the cloth through the machine obliquely to the row of needles. At the same time the cloth is stretched and transported longitudinally by the needle rollers during the tufting operation.

Pin chains 9, 10 or the like and width supports 11, 12 are provided at the selvedges respectively to guide the cloth laterally and to stretch it transversely. These also prevent any lateral deviation of the cloth due to the diagonal tufting, which is important particularly where cut pile is being made. Whereas with loop pile the loop formers hold only one loop at each stitch of the needle and release it again when the cloth is moved on, with cut pile several loops are held on the loop former before cutting. Depending on the tension of the yarn these loops endeavour more or less forcefully to lead the cloth in the direction of the loop formers.

In the tufting process the cloth passes through in known FIG. 9 shows the knife holder carriage carrying blocks 41 with knives 42 mounted therein. On cutting, the knives are moved by the knife carrier shaft 43 in a slight upward are away from the needles. According to the invention the knife carrier shaft has lengths of screw thread 44 mounted in threaded bushes or nuts. The pitch is chosen so that the knife carrier shaft and the knives moved therewith move in the oblique direction of the cloth. This enables the oblique working of the loop formers and of the knives to coincide where there is a horizontally operating loop former carriage according to FIG. 8.

In the case of obliquely set loop formers moved by a rotating loop former carriage, these can also be made to move obliquely by driving the loop former carriage 'by means of screwthreaded members.

In FIGS. 10, 11 and 12 the tuft row illustrated and the length of fabric 47 run obliquely to the right. According to the invention the reeds 48 slope downwardly immediately behind the needles, so that the advancing, longitudinally stretched backing can be resiliently drawn downwards.

In FIG. 12 the loop former 49, arranged vertically to the row of needles, secures the loops 50, 51 and 52 without effectively preventing the cloth from advancing obliquely, owing to its downward flexibility, in spite of the contrary pull of the loops -52 (FIG. 10).

The fact that the cloth advances in the direction shown gives rise to a further advantage of the invention, that the loops (FIG. 10) are cut off evenly in the middle. In contrast to this, with previous methods cutting on one side made the two tufts 53 formed from one loop of unequal length, which led to much wastage of materials with shalrnanner horizontally between the needle carriage and the 1 loop former carriage 13, shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1, with loop formers 14.

In FIGS. 3 and 4 the cloth is also led obliquely to the direction of the row of needles (shown in plan view in FIG. 4.) The obliquely placed needle rollers 15, 16 transport and stretch the cloth longitudinally and draw it over guide rods 172-0, whereby servicing of the machine is facilitated by superposing a platform 21.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show cloth guides 22-24 and 2527 which, by forming loops of cloth, bring the cloth out of the normal direction of passage vertical to the row of needles-shown in plan viewinto an oblique direction. The cloth is led to the machine by the needle roller 22 and stretched and led away by obliquely mounted (FIG. 6) needle rollers 28. 'The drive (not shown) for the needle rollers, which may also perform the returning action, can be provided by bevel gears.

Combinations of the cloth guides shown or other known types can of course be set obliquely to transport and stretch the cloth. The needle rollers, for example, may comprise short, separate pieces arranged obliquely and offset like Venetian blinds.

In FIG. 7 the loop formers 29, constructed obliquely in accordance with the invention, receive the looped yarn 31 brought by the needles 30 through the uppermost backing and lead the loops 32 to the knives 33, which cut them up into cut pile tufts 34. The fact that the loops are guided obliquely by the loop formers means that the advancing backing is also guided obliquely or left in its oblique direction.

FIG. 8 shows diagrammatically the loop former carriage 35, carrying blocks 36 with loop formers 37 attached thereto. The carriage is reciprocated by the toothed racks 38, the guides 39 making the [forward thrust occur obliquely to the direction (not shown) of the row of needles. This also results in the backing being guided obliquely through the loops on the loop former.

low cut pile on account of the cutting which this entailed.

FIG. 13 shows cut pile tufts 54 seen as from the top of the needle pile carpet and made with a needle and tuft row spacing a and a stitch spacing b. The centers 55 of the stitches are in the longitudinal direction of the row of needles, indicated by the dotted line 56. The centres of the stitches form rectangular meshes, in the centre of which there are few fibers. The opened tufts 54 of the pairs of yarn threads 57, 58 support each other only laterally. The backing material runs in the direction of the arrow 59 perpendicularly to the direction of the row of needles.

FIG. 14 Shows the close pile and fibre density obtained with the same needle spacing by closing up the rows of tufts and offsetting them longitudinally as in FIG. 13 through the oblique direction of the backing material 60 in relation to the direction of the row of needles 61. In each case the tufts of the individual needles are placed in the space between the tufts put into the backing by the needles of the adjacent row of tufts. The needles perforations form obliquely offset meshes, so that the tufts support each other not only laterally but also diagonally. The oblique guiding of the cloth enables a much closer spacing c of the rows of tufts to be obtained. The decrease in the strain on the weft threads of the backing makes it possible to have a closer stitch spacing d.

FIG. 15 shows loop tufts 62 made of twisted threads comprising three separate threads 63 (only partially illustrated). The needles of the rows of needles 64 and 65 are arranged one behind the other and longitudinally displaced in such a way that the rows of tufts of the front needles come to rest between those of the back needles. The spacing of the tuft rows e is accordingly half the needle spacing f.

In FIG. 16 the tuft row spacing g is only about one third of the same needle spacing f. The individual threads are directed approximately in the diagonal direction of the carpet, which has a more pleasing effect.

In FIGS. 17, 18 and 19 the illustrated row of tufts 66 and the associated length of fabric 67 run obliquely to the right. The somewhat obliquely arranged reeds 68 slope downwardly immediately behind the needles. A presser foot 69-shown in FIG. 18 and for the sake of clarity omitted from FIGS. 17 and 19-m-ounted as a rail parallel in front of the needles, compels the fabric to pass downwards. According to the invention guide rods or wires 70 are let into the reed plate under the dents. After stitching (shown in plan View) these are bent obliquely downwards and guide the as yet uncut loops and the out tuft bunches in an oblique direction. This results in the cloth extending in the prescribed oblique direction and not being drawn sideways by the as yet uncut loops by the loop formers moving vertically to the row of needles. The dents and guide wires may also comprise a suitably stamped dropper.

In FIGS. 20, 21 and 22 the row 71 of loop tufts and the associated length of fabric 72 move to the righ-t, i.e. to the left as seen from below. The presser foot 73 does not allow the cloth to diverge upwardly when, according to the invention, the loop guide rods and reeds 74 respectively, set obliquely to the needles in the view from below, guide the rows of loops and thereby the cloth in the prescribed oblique direction.

I claim:

1. A machine for the manufacture of pile fabric formed by tufts of yarn arranged in rows longitudinally and transversely on a Web of backing material, comprising a row of tuft forming means, including a needle bar and a row of tufting needles positioned on and aligned longitudinally of said bar, for passing yarn through said backing material from one side and retaining a loop on the opposite side for each tuft, and means to convey said web of backing material in a constant unidirectional path longitudinal of said web past said row of tuft forming means and at an acute angle to said row of needles and said needle bar, said row of needles extending across said web and reciprocating in one position through said web so that said row of tuft forming means forms successive rows of tufts extending entirely across said web at an acute angle to the length of said web upon reciprocation of said row of needles as said web moves through said path.

2. A machine as defined in claim 1, in which said means to convey said web of backing material includes needle roller means for transporting said material.

3. A machine as defined in claim 1, which includes guide means including angul-arly disposed rods located on opposite sides of the row of needles in the direction of movement of the material and engaging and guiding the material in an oblique direction during the travel past said row of needles.

4. A machine as defined in claim 1, in which said means to convey said web of backing material includes separate obliquely positioned needle rollers on opposite sides of said row of needles for engaging and transporting said material.

5. A machine as defined in claim 1, in which said means to convey said web of backing material includes feeding pin chains running obliquely to said row of tuft forming means and parallel to the direction of movement of said web of material and in feeding engagement with the material.

6. A machine as defined in claim 1, in which said row of tuft forming means includes loop former means positioned obliquely to said row of tufting needles and adapted to retain loops to form said tufts.

7. A machine as defined in claim 1, in which said row of tuft forming means includes horizontally operating loop former carriage means directed obliquely to the said row of needles and having loop former means thereon to cooperate with said needles.

8. A machine as defined in claim 1, in which said row of needles is mounted on a needle carriage and screw threaded means are provided to engage said carriage for movement of said carriage in a direction at an angle to said row of needles.

9. A machine as defined in claim 8, which includes knife carrier shaft means directed obliquely to the row of needles, knife means on the shaft, and means supporting said shaft means.

'10. A machine as defined in claim 1, in which said tuft forming means includes shortened and skewed reeds for the production of cut piles.

11. A machine as defined in claim 1, in which said tuft forming means includes loop guide reeds directed at an acute angle to said row of needles and a presser foot behind said row of needles.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 257,786 5/1882 Thomas. 1,830,463 11/1931 Foster 112-79 2,335,487 11/ 1943 Cobble et a1. 1112-79 2,411,267 11/1946 Hamrick 112-79 2,679,218 5/1954 Jones 112-79 2,696,181 12/ 1954 Lacy 112-266 2,975,736 3/1961 Card 11-2-79 3,017,847 1/1962 Keen 112-266 3,056,364 10/ 1962 Dedmon 112-79 3,059,598 10/1962 Wade 112-79 FOREIGN PATENTS 460,728 6/ 1928 Germany. 110,401 12/ 1960 Pakistan.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

THOMAS I HICKEY, Examiner.

T. E. BEALL, JR., M. I. COLITZ, Assistant Examiners. 

1. A MACHINE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PILE FABRIC FORMED BY TUFTS OF YARN ARRANGED IN ROWS LONGITUDINALLY AND TRANSVERSELY ON A WEB OF BACKING MATERIAL, COMPRISING A ROW OF TUFT FORMING MEANS, INCLUDING A NEEDLE BAR AND A ROW OF TUFTING NEEDLES POSITIONED ON AND ALIGNED LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID BAR, FOR PASSING YARN THROUGH SAID BACKING MATERIAL FROM ONE SIDE AND RETAINING A LOOP ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE FOR EACH TUFT, AND MEANS TO CONVEY SAID WEB OF BACKING MATERIAL IN A CONSTANT UNIDIRECTIONAL PATH LONGITUDINAL OF SAID WEB PAST SAID ROW OF TUFT FORMING MEANS AND AT AN ACUTE ANGLE TO SAID ROW OF NEEDLES AND SAID NEEDLE BAR, SAID ROW OF NEEDLES EXTENDING ACROSS SAID WEB AND RECIPROCATING IN ONE POSITION THROUGH SAID WEB SO THAT SAID ROW OF TUFT FORMING MEANS FORMS SUCCESSIVE ROWS OF TUFTS EXTENDING ENTIRELY ACROSS SAID WEB AT AN ACUTE ANGLE TO THE LENGTH OF SAID WEB UPON RECIPROCATION OF SAID ROW OF NEEDLES AS SAID WEB MOVES THROUGH SAID PATH. 